Originally published in The Daily Star on 15 June 2023
Activists of three organisations have urged the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to stop financing the Rupsha power plant, which, according to them, will be burden on the country due to capacity charge and high cost of operation.
Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt (BWGED), Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network (CLEAN) and NGO Forum on ADB today organised a human chain in this regard in front of the under-construction 800MW Rupsha Power Plant, located at Khalishpur in Khulna.
The combined cycle power plant, which can be run by gas or oil, is being financed by the ADB. The estimated cost of building the plant is $500 million.
Without LNG or domestic gas, this 225MW power plant will run on expensive diesel. On one hand, the government will have to pay the capacity charge, and on other hand it has to pay the installments of the ADB loan, said Bahlul Alam, the campaign coordinator, in a press release.
The government has to pay Tk 1,096 crore per year as the capacity charge, according to the activists.
“So far, no potential gas source for the power plant has been found,” the press release added.